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New Books to BPLD May 2026 |
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The Auction (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Spicy, Dark Romance Novel from a Tiktok Sensation
by Sadie Kincaid
The queen of dark mafia romance, Sadie Kincaid, begins her new explosively sexy Wages of Sin series with The Auction. Order your deluxe hardcover limited edition with stunning cover effects, stamped foil case, lush matching endpapers, and decked-out floral edges today.Beauty and the Beast meets organized crime in this tense slow-burn romance with scorching spice, thrilling suspense, and life-altering secrets. I was trained to be a pawn, but I will rise as a queen.My life has never been my own. After the death of my parents, I was saved by my grandfather, with the promise that he would turn me over to the Brotherhood on my twenty-first birthday.I was kept away from the outside world so I could one day be sold to the highest bidder--pure and unsullied. Penance for my parents' alleged crimes.That's how I come to be sold at an auction.And who buys me but the reclusive billionaire, Lincoln Knight?Some say that he's a monster, more dangerous than any of the evil men from the Brotherhood. That he wears a mask to cover his scars. But I believe he's hiding more than just his face behind his mask. My fate is sealed when he takes me to his crumbling mansion deep in the woods. I'm trapped. Entirely at his mercy.I have to escape.But something here isn't what it seems.Lincoln isn't what he seems. Maybe he's not a monster at all. I'm drawn to him in a way that I can't explain. Until I discover that his secrets go far beyond his mask.He's everything I've been taught to fear, but what if everything I've ever known has been a lie? Perfect for readers who love: Scorching hot spice Masked men Morally grey alpha heroes Determined heroines Gothic vibes Fiery slow burns Beauty and the Beast, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights inspo God of Malice, Ruthless Creatures, and The Kiss Thief possessive romance jealous possessive romance obsessive / stalker romance dark possessive romance books OTT possessive alpha romance
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John of John
by Douglas Stuart
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, LOS ANGELES TIMES, TIME, OPRAH DAILY, AND VOGUESo immersive, so all-encompassing, that I felt like I was living in it.--Ann PatchettFrom the Booker Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo comes a vivid, moving novel following a young man returning to his Hebridean island home, a portrait of a father's expectations and a son's desiresOut of money and with little to show for his art school education, John-Calum Macleod takes the ferry back home to the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides to find that little has changed except for him. He returns to the windswept croft and the two pillars of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, tweed weaver, and lay preacher in the local Presbyterian church, and his maternal grandmother Ella, a profanity-loving Glaswegian whose steady warmth helped Cal weather the sudden departure of his mother.Cal privately wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, while John is dismayed by his son's long hair, strange clothes, and seeming unwillingness to be Saved. But Cal isn't the only one in the croft house who is keeping secrets. As lambing season turns to shearing season, the threads holding together the community together become increasingly frayed, and nothing will remain as it was before.John of John is a singular novel about duty, passion, and the transformative power of the truth. It is a magnificent literary work that cements Douglas Stuart's reputation as one of our greatest novelists working today.
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Caller Unknown
by Gillian McAllister
An unputdownable adventure that was both heartwarming and thrilling! Everything I've come to expect from Gillian McAllister! --Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Only a Gillian McAllister thriller can make your heart race and then your heart melt from one page to the next! I'm a devoted fan! --Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling authorHow far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock--and finds herself on the wrong side of the law--in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese's Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.There is nothing that Simone won't do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don't tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal...Though Simone's husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can't take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn't want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone's courage--and morality--is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.Unbearably tense, compassionately told, and full of well-crafted moral dilemmas, Caller Unknown proves once again why Gillian McAllister's thrillers are the best of the best (Lisa Jewell).
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The Calamity Club
by Kathryn Stockett
So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end.--Oprah DailyThe multimillion-copy-selling author of The Help returns with a bold, big-hearted novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what's rightfully theirs--and the power of friendship to change everything.Pure, hell-raising entertainment.--The New York Times Book ReviewOxford, Mississippi, 1933.Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable big girls at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates--and Meg's--converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women's freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences. The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer--an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious--the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.
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Seek the Traitor's Son
by Veronica Roth
DELUXE EDITION--a beautiful hardcover edition featuring a map, designed endpapers and black sprayed edges. An epic, romantic dystopian fantasy begins in Seek the Traitor's Son, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her. She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts. But then she's summoned to hear a prophecy-her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other...but they don't know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with. In just one day, Elegy's old life-her job, her purpose, and her future-is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing. Elegy intends to make sure it's her.
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Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried about: A Memoir
by Isabel Klee
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it.A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she got her chance, ditching her college upstate and moving into a grungy basement apartment in Manhattan. Dog-obsessed since childhood, her first post-grad job was becoming an assistant to a dog photographer, and something clicked into place: a career focused on helping dogs was the new dream.Isabel quickly found a passion for rehabilitating rescue dogs and helping them get adopted. At the same time, she was caught up in a whirlwind of friendships, parties, fickle boyfriends and grand romances, which she recounts in honest, tender, and sometimes devastating chapters about the search for love and belonging.Isabel's first true love, though, was Simon, a fluffy puppy who'd been saved from the meat trade. As the highs and lows of her twenties hit Isabel in wave after wave, it was Simon who kept her grounded. Together, Isabel and Simon created a community of dog-lovers and a tight-knit group of friends pursuing their dreams.In this honest and moving memoir, Isabel weaves together the stories of her foster dogs--and the challenges she helped them overcome--with tales of complicated relationships, hard decisions, and great loves in New York City, all leading to a happy ending not only for the rescue pups, but for Isabel herself.
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Famesick: A Memoir
by Lena Dunham
In this rowdy, frank reflection on illness, fame, sex, and everything in between, the remarkable mind behind the hit series Girls and the bestselling author of Not That Kind of Girl asks whether fulfilling her creative ambitions has been worth the pain. For the last decade, as she's spent countless hours in doctor's waiting rooms searching for diagnoses, treatments, and relief, being the owner and operator of Lena Dunham's body has felt, as she puts it, like towing a wrecked car across town at midnight. It's not easy dragging a wrecked car anywhere, much less to the Met Gala while sewn into a gold lamé corset. Or to the set of the hit show that you--as a twenty-five-year-old--are writing, directing, producing, and starring in. Or to the White House, the Golden Globes, or your publicist's office to discuss the latest internet disaster. But Dunham does it--even if it means interminable hospital stays, vomiting in the bathroom when she's meant to be meeting Oprah, or terrifying those closest to her--because she can no longer tell the difference between fighting to do what she loves and being a servant to her own ambition. All the while, she is holding out for a love that can withstand her personal and public challenges and, more than anything, yearning to feel like herself again--if only she could remember who that self was. As Dunham takes us through her journey, tracking her rise to fame--from selling the pilot of Girls to the present--in three acts, it becomes clear that the spotlight casts long shadows, distorting the relationships she once held dear and isolating everyone in its glare. When an endless supply of drugs can't protect you from pain--and begins to control your every move--being famous doesn't stand a chance against the darker corners of the human experience. In Famesick, Dunham asks herself what the cost of fulfilling her dreams has really been, and whether it was worth it. What she finds is deeper than physical relief, and more lasting, as she learns to live with what she can't change and turn her regrets into wisdom that can carry her forward, as she reconnects to what, and who, she loves.
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Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King
by Caroline Bicks
After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine's Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first person given full access to King's archives, a treasure trove of material about the legendary writer's creative process and life, most of it never seen before. Her year of studying the archival materials was guided by one question millions of readers have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King Stephen King? Bicks focuses on five of King's early iconic books--The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, 'Salem's Lot, and Night Shift--to reveal how he manipulates character, language, and story to cast his remarkable, creepy spells. Through close reading of early drafts, interviews with King, and freshly discovered biographical details, as well as her own personal history as a reader and scholar, Bicks shows King's mastery of storytelling and his enduring imprint on American culture. In the process, Bicks faces her own fears and gets to know the man partially responsible for them-- Provided by publisher.
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A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides
by Gisèle Pelicot
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A rousing feminist manifesto. - The New York Times Book Review Staggering . . . a lyrical book about monstrous events, a compelling exploration of what it feels like to hold two existences in your brain at once. - Washington Post Deeply vulnerable. - USA Today The sexual assault that stunned the world. A courageous woman's rallying call for shame to change sides. For the very first time, Gis le Pelicot tells her story. In 2024, Gis le Pelicot waived her right to anonymity in her legal fight against her ex-husband and the fifty men accused of sexually assaulting her, a courageous decision that inspired millions of people around the world. Only four years prior, Gis le had made the shattering discovery that her partner, Dominique Pelicot, had been secretly drugging and raping her, and inviting strangers to also abuse her in their home for nearly a decade. Shame must change sides, Gis le bravely declared at the opening of the trial in Avignon, France, and the dictum soon became an international rallying cry to radically transform public sentiment and legislation surrounding cases of sexual violence. By the time Dominique and the dozens of men accused were found guilty three and a half months later, Gis le had become a global figure, and her message--that she and other victims of sexual abuse have no reason to feel ashamed--galvanized a movement that triggered protests and demonstrations around the world. In A Hymn to Life, Gis le tells her story for the very first time, not as victim, but as witness. Beginning in 2020, when she received the first phone call from a local police station, Gis le recounts the fateful investigation that turned her life inside out. With unwavering honesty and devastating grace, she retraces the steps of a life built over the course of five decades, the final decade of her marriage and its hidden abuse, and the long path of emotional healing that ensues. As Gis le transcends the unfathomable traumas of her past, against all odds, she emerges with a renewed sense of passion and reverence for her life. Part memoir, part act of defiance, A Hymn to Life is a moving story of survival, testimony, and courage, and an unforgettable portrait of a woman who broke her silence, reclaimed her voice, and forced a reckoning.
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National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America
by Michael Auslin
The inspiring story of the Declaration of Independence--the first to take us from its drafting by Thomas Jefferson to today--charting the many lives of a document that captures the soul of America and has united generations around its defiant ideals, published for the 250th anniversary of America's founding. Quiet and politically untested, Thomas Jefferson was not the obvious choice to draft a statement of principles explaining why the American colonies were breaking ties with the King of England. His soaring rhetoric would inspire generations of Americans to live up to the founders' dreams. National Treasure is the gripping story of our most revered founding relic, as a physical object and a set of ideals that have made America what it is today. An award-winning historian, Michael Auslin take us from the boarding house in Philadelphia where Jefferson put quill to paper to the Declaration's covert signing, dissemination in the doldrums of the revolutionary war, and long, harrowing, and ultimately hallowed afterlife. We follow the parchment as it is hauled out of a soon-to-be-burning Washington in 1814 and see it hidden in a dank cellar, posted in classrooms, recited on village greens, printed on handkerchiefs, and used to sell insurance and bundle coal. An inspiration to both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in the Civil War, it has grown more important for each new generation. While FDR and Churchill celebrated its commitment to freedom from tyranny, the document itself was lowered into a bunker at Fort Knox. After the war, its precious ink fading, it was painstakingly preserved and enshrined. Through it all, Jefferson's words have inspired implausibly varied causes, from suffragists and civil rights leaders to groups waging war on the US government. As Jefferson had hoped, the principles enshrined in the Declaration became a beacon to the world. But what lessons should we take from it today? Can this statement of ideals in whose name the signers pledged their lives and sacred honor bring a disparate nation together? As we gather to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founders' bold experiment in democracy, Auslin reminds us that this enduring document was not just a call for freedom and equality but an eloquent statement of the principles that bind us together.
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Byron Public Library District
100 S. Washington St.
Byron, Illinois 61010
(815) 234-5107byronlibrary.org |
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